


This is Love

by y02mustang



Series: This is Love [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Lena Luthor Gets a Hug, Lena Luthor Has Feelings, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 09:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16700038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/y02mustang/pseuds/y02mustang
Summary: Lena needs a hug.Kara is good at hugs.





	This is Love

**Author's Note:**

> I needed some seriously soft Supercorp after that breakup fic.
> 
> Here we go!

_If you ever need to feel a hand_  
_Take up your own_  
_When you least expect_  
_But want it more than you've ever known_  
_Baby, here's that hand_  
_And, baby, here's my voice that's calling_  
_This is love, all it ever was and will be_  
_This is love_

Mary Chapin Carpenter, _This is Love_

* * *

Lena settles into the backseat with a sigh, letting her eyes slip closed as Samuel drives smoothly through the city. The cabin nestled in the woods, well-furnished and elegant despite the surrounding wilderness, has been on the schedule for months and now that it's finally arrived, it couldn't happen at a better time. 

She and Kara planned the three-day weekend to coincide with absolutely nothing - their first anniversary passed four months earlier and their birthdays, Earth and otherwise for Kara, are still at least a month away. There's nothing to celebrate, nothing to try to get perfect, nothing to fall through, nothing to stress about. The only reason for the vacation is to simply be together. 

It's exactly what Lena needs after a week of Kara being away. 

_Not away,_ she amends, _off-planet._

Kara is currently on Krypton, or what's left of it, namely Argo City, visiting her mother. She's gone a few times, Kara Danvers the reporter being conveniently assigned to cover a story well outside of National City, while J’onn and the DEO manage Supergirl duties and protect Earth in the hero’s absence. 

Lena is so glad Kara has this opportunity, this unexpected chance to see her mother, long thought dead, to reclaim some of the identity she'd been forced to hide for half her life. They've talked a few times, about Supergirl vs. Kara Danvers vs. Kara Zor-El, and Lena understands the Kryptonian is often simply Kara Danvers or Supergirl, whatever the rest of the world needs her to be, and that wears on her, as much as she denies it. 

So, she goes to Krypton. Goes home. For a few visits, to sort of recharge and center herself with her people and her family. To be Kara Zor-El, for a time. 

Lena thanks Samuel as he retrieves her bag from the trunk and holds the rear door open for her to exit the car. She takes the small wheeled luggage bag and walks up the path to the cabin, gravel and pine straw crunching as Samuel begins to pull out of the drive, though he waits to make sure she's safely inside before leaving from view. 

The cabin is spacious. Two stories of rustic wooden charm, such as the claw foot tub on the top floor, mixed with luxuries of modern technology, including high-speed internet and a flat-screen TV. Lena bought the place not long after she settled in National City, when it became clear that she was staying but would need some way to get away from the city now and again. 

She's brought Kara here once before, a quick overnight getaway early in their relationship, taking advantage of a girlfriend with the power of flight to make the two hundred miles meaningless. It had been more about stealing time together before Kara’s friends and family were informed of their status, before expectations for double-dates and well-meaning questions of intentions and social pressure descended. 

_And it was quite a night._ Lena smiles as she recalls they barely made it inside, Kara pressing her up against the very door she closes now. 

For now, the cabin is empty. She's an entire day early, their weekend not scheduled to begin until Friday night, but she couldn't spend another hour at the office. 

_No,_ she sighs and carries her bag to the master bedroom upstairs, _it wasn't work. Not really. It was everything._

Another sigh. 

_Not everything. One thing in particular._

She unzips the luggage and takes out her makeup bag and shower kit, setting everything up within easy reach in the bathroom. It's a slightly smaller sink than at her apartment but she only packed the necessary items, knowing many of her toiletries had extras still at the cabin, so the space isn't too cramped. There’s still room enough for Kara’s products of choice on the opposite side of the counter. 

Clothes are next. Having lived out of a suitcase during enough business trips to last a lifetime, she unpacks everything from her luggage to the first few drawers of the dresser. She leaves out a pair of comfortable jeans and a soft sweater, preparing for the crisp evening. The fire and wine will help keep the chill off, but she despises being cold, so she adds a pair of thick socks. 

She considers a shower but there's a Pinot Noir in the kitchen and she decides the alcohol wins. Changing leisurely into the jeans and sweater, pulling up the socks, she pads downstairs and takes a wine glass from the cabinet. She fills the glass a third of the way, then a bit more. 

Lena takes a sip and sighs, trying to release some of the tension in her shoulders. She sets the glass on the counter. 

Early November means it's already getting dark by five, which is perfect for her plans. There's an indoor fireplace but the first snow of the year has yet to fall, so Lena gathers a few pieces of wood from the stack near the mantle and carries them out back to the fire pit. 

She rolls up her sleeves just long enough to arrange the wood so it will burn. She chuckles at her own forgetfulness and returns inside to grab her wine and the fire starter. 

_Last time, Kara just gave it a blast of heat vision._ They hadn't had to worry about a lighter with the Kryptonian around. When the fire began to die, Kara simply added more wood and encouraged the embers to burn again. 

She triggers the lighter under the pile of sticks and wood, leaving it for a few seconds until several pieces of kindling have taken to the flame. When she's certain the fire will continue to burn, she settles into the nearby outdoor chair, wine glass in hand, and stares at the stars just beginning to shine through the night sky. 

She knows approximately where Krypton is but wishes she could be sure. 

_I’ll have to remember to ask Kara when she comes back._

_If she comes back,_ and, ah, there's the trouble. The thought that had been at the back of her mind all week since Kara left. Or rather, since Kara had decided on this trip. 

_But that's not exactly true either, is it?_

She takes a few sips of wine, chasing that thought away for the moment. This time, at least, it added up, toppling over an otherwise manageable workload, resulting in her snapping at Jess around noon on Wednesday. 

Wednesdays were normally reserved for lunch dates with Kara. 

Whether Jess made the connection and knew what was going on or just wanted to get Lena out of the office and on vacation a little sooner, Lena wasn't sure. Jess took the sharp words and biting tone in stride, simply freeing Lena’s Friday and moving the cabin up one day to Thursday afternoon. 

_And so, here I am. But if I'm missing my girlfriend, why didn’t I tell her I'm here a day early? Communications from Earth to Argo aren’t the simplest, but I could reach her, if I wanted._ She'd gone over this on the drive over and knew the response to this bit of self-doubt. _Because I don't want to take her away from visiting her family. My god, the mother she thought was dead? How could I ask her to end that early just because her human girlfriend is being stupidly insecure?_

She grunts in annoyance at the brutal honesty slipping through. She'd have guessed at least another glass of wine before her introspection began lending itself to truthfulness. 

“Ridiculous,” Lena sighs. She rests her socked feet on the brick rim of the fire pit, warming her toes. 

_So maybe it's been building since an earlier visit to Krypton._ The admission brings a frown and she clucks her tongue. _Every trip is a risk. A chance that maybe…_

A familiar _whoosh_ accompanied by a blur of red and blue and then there's a superhero just a few yards away. Landing far enough so as to not extinguish the fire, Kara approaches with a gentle smile. “Hey.”

Lena stands, surprised. “What are you, I mean, I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.” 

Kara nods, coming to a stop when Lena makes no move to embrace her. “I wanted to see you,” she says, “I was worried about you.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You can’t tell me you can hear my heartbeat through space.”

Kara chuckles at that. “No. I felt it here,” she taps two fingers against her own chest, over her heart. 

Lena exhales slowly. 

“What’s wrong?” Kara aches to hold her but senses it wouldn’t be welcome just now. 

_There are so many ways to answer that question. Most pressing wins, I suppose. So, what if…_ “What if you decide to stay?”

“Stay?”

Lena forces the words past the lump in her throat. “On Krypton. In Argo.” She peers at her empty glass and wishes she had more wine. This conversation is going to call for more wine. 

Kara frowns slightly. “Why would I st-”

“It's your home,” Lena continues, breathing deeply, trying to keep the tears at bay. 

“My childhood home, yes,” Kara agrees. “I thought all I would ever have would be memories, but now at least some part of my world, my people, have survived. I get to visit my mother, for real, not just a hologram.”

“You don't have to visit. You could stay.”

Kara bites her lip. “I don't understand,” she admits, feeling a little unsettled at Lena’s words. “Are you, do you want me to stay on Krypton? Do you want me to leave?”

“You're going to anyway,” Lena snaps, turning away, shoulders trembling, “so it might as well be now.”

“I'm not,” Kara insists, following Lena’s movements. She nears but refrains from touching her, keeping a few feet between them. “I'm only visiting there. My home is here now.” She realizes belatedly that the conversation she had with Alex was not one that she’d had with Lena. Alex had questioned Kara’s decision to stay on Earth rather than return to Argo City for more than the occasional visit, and Kara had explained… but Lena hadn’t asked. So Kara thought she knew, or at least understood, her desire to remain on Earth. 

_Good job,_ she scolds herself. _Lena needs reassurance, too. And you know she wouldn’t ask outright… until it’s bad. Like now. Oh, Rao._

“You're a refugee here, Earth isn't your home. You've said so yourself.” _Got her there_ , Lena thinks, but the triumph hurts. But it's better to get it over with, she's sure of that. Do it now, before she's invested any deeper, before her heart is irrevocably broken by the woman's departure. Her fingers dig into her upper arm and she tries to steel herself for the upcoming pain. 

Kara takes several moments to gather her thoughts and form them into a coherent response. “When I landed here, for the first twelve years of my life on this planet, the only person that made me feel a little less alone was Alex. Eliza, she tried, but it was Alex who got me through the worst days.” She takes a step closer but clenches her fists so she doesn't move to touch. “Then I met you, and I knew you, and I _loved_ you. I know now that home doesn't have to be a place, it can be a person. _You’re_ my home,” she whispers. 

Lena turns her head, finds tear-filled blue eyes watching her intently, and swallows hard. She uncrosses her arms and begins to reach out. That's all the signal Kara needs and suddenly she's wrapped in a fierce embrace, blonde hair brushing against her cheek, soft strings of Kryptonian being muttered into her ear.

“I can't, I can't understand you, darling.”

“I love you,” Kara says, kissing the side of her head. “I just love you. Can we, um, talk a little still?”

Lena nods. She owes the woman an explanation, at least. “I'm probably going to need some more wine.”

Kara smiles and strokes her cheek. “I'll change and bring you out another glass, okay?” 

What would normally take a few seconds takes several minutes, Kara moving at human speed to allow Lena more time to gather her thoughts. Once she's traded her suit for cloth sweatpants and a t-shirt, remaining barefoot, she refills Lena’s glass and returns to the backyard. Kara hands it to her carefully, sinking into the nearby chair with a cup of hot chocolate she'd made for herself. 

“The fire is nice,” she says, reaching her hands toward the flames. 

“Mm,” Lena agrees, drinking half her glass. 

Kara clears her throat gently when Lena remains silent. “Why did you decide to come out early?”

“I needed a break.” She chews on her bottom lip for a moment. “It was just too much.”

“What happened?” She sits back from the fire and turns toward Lena, but the woman refuses to meet her gaze. 

“Nothing _happened_ ,” Lena sighs, “not really.” She grits her teeth and pushes forward. “I was so sure you were going to decide to stay. That you'd visit one day and just not come back.” Kara feels her stomach drop at the pained whisper but knows she doesn't need to contribute a response, that a defensive _I would never do that_ would not be the best choice. “What is there for you here besides fragile humans and our endless clamor for Supergirl to save us from ourselves? When you could be with your own people, a normal life, an opportunity to reclaim what was lost to you… who could blame you for that?”

“Maybe you're right,” Kara allows at last, when Lena falls quiet and it's clear she's said her piece. “When I'm on Krypton, I don't have to worry about being Supergirl or Kara Danvers. I'm just me, just Kara Zor-El, in a way I haven't known since I was a kid.” She wraps both hands around the mug and takes another sip of the hot chocolate. “My mother is on Krypton, some of my friends from my childhood. We share a lot of memories, of growing up together, studying and playing, getting into trouble.” She chuckles to herself at a few of those memories. 

Lena sniffs a little. Only fitting that it should be her own words, that she be the one to push the idea onto the hero, to encourage her departure. She destroys everything she touches. Nothing she loves lasts. It's always been so. 

“But my family isn't just on Krypton anymore,” she says, looking up into the sky, scanning the stars for a moment until she knows she's looking in the direction of the small floating city, all that’s left of her planet. “I've made a family here on Earth, I've built friendships, and they matter, too. Maybe more than what I left behind on Krypton because these are relationships I've forged as an adult, of my own will and with my own choices, with no expectations except to care for one another. No ties based in blood. All that makes me _me_ is here on Earth.” 

Kara takes a deep breath, then another. “My family crest is _El Mayarah_. Stronger together. I am stronger here, with all of my friends, with the humans of this planet, than I am alone. I am stronger here on Earth and not just because of the yellow sun.” She leans forward in her seat, meeting Lena’s wide-eyed gaze for the first time since she sat down. “I am stronger because of you. Because of my chosen family. I choose you, Lena, but I... it isn't as though I could simply change my mind. I love you. My heart chose you, from the minute we met, and when I’m with you, I'm home. I will always come back to you.”

The tears in her eyes begin to fall and Lena turns her head, trying to regain control, though she knows Kara has already noticed. 

And she has. She stands and slips her arms beneath Lena, lifting her from the chair. “Easy,” Kara says, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as she settles the woman in a comfortable hold, “I've got you. We’re going to go inside and I’ll draw you a bath, okay?”

“You don't… I've just had too much wine,” she sighs. She swishes the last few sips in her glass before pouring it out to the ground. “That's all.”

Kara hums quietly. “Is that a no to the bath?” She stills, waiting for an honest answer before she moves either into the house or returns Lena to her seat. “What if I join you?” She absently nuzzles Lena’s neck as she makes the offer, brushing her nose against the fine hair beneath her ear. 

Relaxing in a tub of hot water with Kara is, hands down, the best idea Lena has heard in a week. She sighs, sinking deeper into Kara’s embrace, smiling at the gentle affection against her neck even as the last tears trail down her cheeks. “That sounds perfect.”

“I agree.” Kara kisses the shell of her ear. “I can put that scented oil in the water. I can wash your hair, if you want.” As she walks into the cabin and carries Lena up the stairs, she continues listing additional suggestions, calling up every memory she has for what makes Lena happy, what relaxes her most, anything at all she can do to reflect how much she loves her. 

“That all sounds wonderful,” Lena says, carding one hand through the blonde hair when Kara sets her carefully on her feet when they enter the master bathroom. “But all I need is you.”

“Sure,” Kara gives a gently teasing grin, her own anxiety diminishing some now that she can see the spark returning to the green eyes, “but you'd rather have me and the lavender oil, right?”

“Well, of course.” Lena chuckles for a moment, then pulls Kara down into a kiss, reveling in the strength of the arms that instantly surround her, drawing on the surety and unwavering support that has characterized Kara’s presence in her life since day one. 

Kara returns the kiss gently, leisurely. There's passion but no urgency. What was supposed to be three days together has turned into four, with the need for some tenderness at the start, and Kara is more than willing to provide all the comfort she can. 

One long minute later, Kara pulls back and brushes her nose against Lena’s. “I love you.”

Lena smiles. How could she do anything else in the face of such adoration? “I love you, too.”

“Have you had dinner?”

She frowns slightly at what seems to be a non sequitur. “No.”

Kara raises an eyebrow. “Wine and then a hot bath,” she muses. “I might have to carry you to bed.”

“You just might.” She caresses Kara’s cheek and kisses her once more. “I'll be right back.” She steps into the bedroom to undress, making sure her watch and phone will be well away from the steam. 

Kara opens the faucet and begins to fill the large bathtub, pulling the drain closed when the temperature is appropriate. As the water rises, she adds a few drops of lavender, watching the incandescent rainbows ripple along the surface. She calls up some classical piano music and turns up the volume on her phone - it's DEO-issue, so the steam from the bathroom won't be a problem. 

She could technically put the phone _in_ the bath and it would be fine, but Winn would only lecture her about stressing equipment unnecessarily. 

Lena returns to the bathroom, nude, and a half-smile crosses Kara’s face. “In you go,” she says, taking Lena’s hand, kissing the back gently, and steadying her as she steps into the water. Kara uses her super speed to strip quickly and she closes the bathroom door, placing Lena’s shampoo and conditioner within reach on the edge of the bathtub, slipping behind Lena as she comes up from dunking her head to wet her hair, placing her legs on either side of her girlfriend.

Kara puts a generous dollop of shampoo on her palm and then begins working it into Lena’s hair and scalp, massaging gently. 

“This is nice,” Lena murmurs with a sigh, closing her eyes. 

Kara stays silent for a time, focusing on her task, waiting for Lena to rinse the shampoo out, running her fingers through Lena’s hair again as she works the conditioner into the locks. She kisses Lena’s shoulder, smiling when the woman tilts her head and bumps it gently against her own. While the conditioner sets, Kara moves the long dark hair out of the way and soaps the back of Lena’s neck, scrubbing gently with the loofa. “Is this the first time you've worried about me staying on Krypton?”

Lena’s hesitation tells her everything. “No,” she admits quietly. “I have since the beginning.”

“Why didn't you -”

“I was more concerned about Mon-El being back.”

Kara blinks. “Mon-El?” She pauses in her scrubbing. “You never said anything. Lena, did it bother you when he and I would team up?”

 _Team up._ She barely manages to avoid curling her lip at the term. “Of course not.”

“Lena.”

Lena sighs, swallowing the sour taste in the back of her mouth. “It was dumb. Just more insecurity on my part.” When the loofa remains still against her skin, Kara clearly waiting for more of an answer, she relents, leaning back into Kara's willing arms. She keeps her eyes closed, so she doesn't have to watch the disappointment on the beautiful features as she speaks, but resting against Kara's chest and feeling her breathe makes the words come easier. Kara shifts, rubbing her arms, keeping her close. “We'd only been dating for just over three months when he came back. I understood he meant a lot to you, a connection to your planet, at least in some ways, and an alien. You told me you'd moved on and I believed you, I always believed you, but it was obvious that even though he was married, _he_ hadn't moved on.”

Kara presses several long kisses against her temple, barely missing the conditioner, but does not interrupt. 

“When you returned from space that first time and said you'd been to Argo City, saving Sam with Harun-El was the priority. Then, you went back, and I was so happy you could visit your mother, I was thrilled for you to have that chance, but I was more concerned about the overall picture of you on Krypton with the prince of Daxam.” She hates this weakness, this jealousy, yet she trusts that Kara will love her through it. “Your mother coming to Earth was amazing and I'd hoped she might stay for a while, then there was Reign to deal with again, then Mon-El left and… There was so much else going on at first, I thought that was it, but every time you visit Krypton...”

Kara exhales slowly. “You've been worrying about this every time I've gone? I've made six trips now.” She squeezes Lena carefully, pulling her close. “I'm sorry.”

“No! God, Kara, this is,” Lena feels tears burn again, “this is exactly why I didn't tell you. I don't want you to feel badly about going home.”

“I'm not sorry about visiting Argo City,” she clarifies. “I'm sorry I didn't realize how much it was bothering you. And I'm sorry I've never taken you with me.”

“What?”

“Would you want to go with me next time?”

“To… can you do that?” 

Kara shrugs, sloshing a bit of water over the rim of the tub. “Don't see why not,” she kisses Lena’s neck. “You've met my mom, but you could see where I grew up. I want to share my planet with you, on one condition.”

Lena feels more of the tension bleed out of her shoulders at the gentle kisses. “What's that?”

“You remember we’re visiting. Earth is where I choose to stay, with you.” She nuzzles her ear. “You're my home.”

She sighs, smiling, and leans into the attention, earning more concentrated nuzzles and a hug around her midsection. “I'll remember.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! <3 I am thankful for all of you.


End file.
